Bentley Continental GT Hybrid (GTH) in 2013?

Reports claim that Bentley are planning to introduce a hybrid powertrain in the Continental GT. Said to arrive at Geneva 2013 and on sale that summer.

The Bentley Continental GT has has W12 power since it arrived on the scene as the first ‘VW’ Bentley almost a decade ago, but legislation on CO2 levels has seen that change this last year.

We now have the Continental GT V8 as well as the W12, and the Continental is none the worse for that. The new V8 offers the potential for better economy and – more importantly – lower headline emissions to keep Bentley’s average CO2 figures on a slightly more sensible level.

Now it seems Bentley are prepared to go even further with the Continental by fitting a V6 hybrid powertrain to push headline CO2 emissions even lower.

The powertrain is said to be the same hybrid setup the Panamera Hybrid gets, which means an Audi 3.0 litre V6 with 330bhp mated to a 44bhp electric motor. In the Panamera that means 0-62mph in 6 seconds and CO2 emissions of 159g/km, thanks to an official combined economy figure of 41.5mpg.

The Bentley Continental GT V8 weighs around 250kg more than the Panamera, so Bentley will have to either up the output of the electric motor and Audi V6 to get similar performance or we’ll be seeing the slowest Bentley in a generation on sale, if and when the Continental GTH hits showrooms in 2013.